Crossing Over, The DBZ Saga Part 1
by HeraldAngel576
Summary: One of a four part, multi-series saga. For what reason would a normal guy be brought into a world not his own? And what's the meaning behind the many changes he's undergone? Read to find out. Less generic than the summary makes it sound.
1. Chapter 1

A Defense:

Hello there. Now, I'm going to tell you this right off the bat. This is a very self-indulgant piece of fiction. I'm doing several things with this that a lot of people think are dumb at the least, and a crime against literature at the most. Everything branches from the fact that yes, this is a self insertion fic.

Indeed, I'm putting myself into another world's story. And yes, most likely there will be a love interest with a major character from the show. And again yes, I will be giving myself various abilities that make me stronger than your average man.

Despite all this, I don't think I'm going to make a fool of myself or of the world I am working with. I have reasons. I'm going to try not to make myself a superman. I'm not going to pretend I could be someone I'm not in another world. The version of me in this is going to be very much like the real me, personality wise. I'm not going to suddenly turn into some suave ladies man, able to save the world while simultaneously beating off hordes of women with a stick.

The abilities I'm giving myself are given for practical reasons. Everything will work for the story in the end. I'm not going to make myself better than the main characters of the show. To do that would take the magic from the original work. I'm going to add myself, most likely manipulating things so that there will be some problem that I have to deal with, or that I will insist I deal with, due to my unique state.

So bear with me, I think you'll enjoy the ride, even though I'm breaking several cardinal rules of fanfiction. Sit back, relax, and unplug the cynical portion of your brain temporarily.

Also, Italics mean thinking, though that's pretty obvious.

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I sat up and looked around, dazed. I was in what looked like a hotel room, fairly large, with a bank of windows on one wall, a sizeable TV on another, and not much on the third. The fourth side of the room was only half filled with wall; the rest was a short hallway that presumably led to the bathroom. The bed I was on was king sized, and softer than air.

I threw back the covers and scratched my stomach, yawning. I stopped mid-yawn. Looking down, I realized a good portion of my stomach was missing. Confused, I rose and found a folded set of clothes on the chair beside the bed; a pair of jeans, a solid red t-shirt and a blue and white checkered button up shirt. I grabbed them and stumbled sleepily to the bathroom. As I passed the mirror, I stopped and stared at myself.

_Definitely thinner_, I thought. Where I remembered a slight potbelly, now there was a fairly flat expanse of stomach. I was slightly more muscled than I remembered, too. Just a wiry sort of muscle, more like a runner than a weight lifter. I shook my head, then got dressed.

A couple minutes later I left the bathroom, having used the facilities and brushed my teeth with the hotels complimentary toothbrush. I looked closer at the room I was in, noticing a backpack sitting against the dresser. On the table next to the window was a sheet of paper with a fair amount written on it. I walked over and picked it up, reading quickly.

_ Jeffrey,_

_ You're confused. I know that. I can't tell you everything you want to know, but I can tell you that eventually you'll know. No time soon, but eventually. For now, I'm just going to tell you to go to Orange Star High school. Be there by 8 AM. You're enrolled there under the name Gabriel Gray. The room you are in is paid up through the end of the week. I can't help you after that, you'll have to find something to do from there. You've probably noticed you've changed a bit. In time you'll find that more than just your physique has changed. But, knowing you, I'm sure the item I put beside this note will tip you off as to your new condition. Use it how you will, and use all you know._

The note ended with no signature. I looked down at the item on the table. I picked it up. It was a metal cylinder, about 6 to 8 inches long, maybe an inch thick. It had a small opening on one end, and a switch and a button on the side. I stared at it for a few moments, thinking about how the note had said I'd understand "my condition" from this. Then it hit me. My arm stretched straight out in surprise.

I tilted the cylinder so the open end faced up, then, taking a deep breath, I hit the switch. The room was filled with a loud humming, sounding like a hive full of angry bees. An emerald green glow filled the semi-dark room.

I was holding a lightsaber. _Of all the things to find in a hotel room,_ I thought, stunned. The implications of the note slowly came to me. _If I'm holding a lightsaber, can I…?_

I switched off the blade, and then dropped it back on the table. Backing up, feeling rather foolish, I reached out my hand toward the inert cylinder and concentrated. I didn't know what I expected, but when the cylinder twitched violently on the table I nearly jumped across the room.

_Hell,_ I thought, amused at my own skittishness. I reached out again and, without thinking about it, made the saber rise off the table. I cocked my head to the side and thought about it.

_OK, so I can use the Force. Interesting. But how? Maybe he, whoever he is, made it a subconscious thing. He obviously knew I'd think of this, so he made it easy for me to access it._

I dropped my hand and the saber clattered to the table top. I shook my head and decided to let it drop there, not think about it for a while. I'd go a bit nuts trying to work out what all this meant right now. I raised the note and read part of it again. _Orange Star…I should know that. It's familiar. _I shrugged, deciding to figure it out later.

I sat on the bed and pulled the pair of shoes sitting against the dresser over to me with my feet. I pulled on the socks that were inside each shoe, then the shoes. Standing, I grabbed the backpack and the wallet that was sitting on the dresser above it. I flipped through the wallet and saw a fair amount of unfamiliar looking bills, a hotel key, and what looked like an inactivated debit card. I shrugged, closed the wallet, slid it in my pocket and walked from the room.

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In the lobby I stopped and looked around. It seemed like every other hotel I'd ever been to; a lowered area with a TV, several couches and chairs, and a counter where they'd lay out breakfast in the morning. There was a sign in front of a hallway pointing to rooms, the exercise room, and the pool. On my left was the check in counter.

I walked over to the counter, stopping when the woman standing behind it looked up. She smiled at me and I returned it a little shakily. It had suddenly occurred to me that I didn't know what language they spoke here. I went ahead anyway, figuring there was nothing else I could do.

"Hi, do you know where Orange Star High school is?"

The woman nodded, and I breathed an internal sigh of relief. She smiled reassuringly at me and raised her arm to point out the door. On her wrist dangled a pair of thick bracelets, one gold and one silver. "Yeah, go outside, and it's only about a block or so to the left."

I smiled again. "Thanks."

She nodded to me and I turned to go.

Outside the day was sunny and clear. Cars of various sizes passed by on the street, all of them floating about a foot above the ground. I took all this in as I was turning to the left. I started walking, looking around as I went. The block passed quickly, and there was the school.

It was a large brick and concrete building. It looked to be 2 stories, taking up about a fourth of the block I was on. There were a few offshoot buildings, probably a gym complex. It was big, larger than I was used to.

_High school…man, I'm in college. I thought I was done with this. Well, at least it should be easy._

I walked to the door and went inside. Down the hall on my left was a pair of double doors, with a sign that read Office above. I went in the office and was greeted by a woman sitting behind the desk looking up at me. Her jaw stopped moving, the gum she was probably chewing pushed to the side so she could talk. I stepped up and spoke.

"Hi. My name's Gabriel Gray, I was just enrolled here and don't know where to go."

"Well, let's fix that," she said amicably. She reached over to the computer and typed away for a few seconds. "Let's see…ah, yes, Gabriel Gray, here we are. You're in room 125. Go out the door, down the hall to the right, it's the third door on the left."

I smiled at her. "Thanks." I turned and left, following the directions she'd given me. I passed by the cafeteria on the way, glancing in and seeing a janitor mopping the floor, a pair of headphones glued securely in his ears. I counted the numbers on the doors as I walked, reaching 125 before I knew it.

I went into the classroom the woman had told me to go to and looked around. It was a stadium style room, rows of long tables rising in steps up to the back of the room. At the front was a triplet of blackboards. Off to the side was a desk, and behind it sat a middle aged man. He was average height, had dark hair and glasses. He was dressed in khaki pants and a blue dress shirt. He looked up at me and stood.

"Hello," he started. "You must be the new student I was told about. I'm Mr. Silvers. Gabriel, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that's me." I glanced around a little nervously. "Uh, I'm not from around here, so I don't know how this works."

"Yeah, I figured you for an exchange student. Don't worry, it's pretty easy. The class you're in stays together through the entire day. This is just homeroom. You'll move around, but just pick someone out and follow them to the next room. Now then, you'll be needing this." He turned and picked up a thin packet of papers from his desk and handed them to me. I looked at the top sheet. "It's your schedule and some general information. Hmm…" He looked up at the rows of tables. "You can have the third row, third seat from the right."

I nodded and walked up to the indicated seat and sat down, dropping my bag on the table in front of me and unzipping it. I smiled as I pulled out one of the books inside. It was obviously a novel, though I'd never heard of it. _Well, whoever packed this bag definitely knew me._ I opened the book and started reading to pass the time.

Slowly the room began to fill. People glanced at me as they filed in, then went to their seats and talked with each other, seeming to forget about me for a little. Just before the class started a pair of girls walked in the room, talking animatedly with each other. Both were about five and a half feet tall, one with black hair one with blue, which raised my eyebrow. The blue haired girl was wearing a red skirt and matching long-sleeved blouse. The black haired girl was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. Both were attractive, the blue haired girl almost strikingly so. The black haired girl was plainer, but not in a bad way.

They walked up to the row in front of me, and then down to sit directly ahead of where I was. I overheard them talking, and what I heard made me look up sharply.

"Oh, come on Pan," the blue haired girl said, "you know you would've gotten mad too."

Pan snorted. "Bra, I don't know what you think of me, but I don't get mad at people over clothes."

Before Bra could come up with a comeback, the teacher stood and the low rumble of conversations ceased. He smiled at the class and cleared his throat. "Morning class. We've got a new student today. Gabriel, give a wave for us."

I grinned nervously and raised a hand. All eyes turned toward me for just a second. I looked down and locked eyes with Pan for half a second. She smiled at me before turning back to face front. I sat and listened to Mr. Silvers tell the class some announcements.

My thoughts turned to the two in front of me, and the meaning behind them being there. _I knew I recognized the name of this place. DBZ? Definitely the strangest thing to happen to me in…well, in forever. If they're in high school, this must be after the series._

After about ten minutes the bell rang and people got up to go. I ended up behind Pan and Bra. They were talking again, but I couldn't hear them over the din in the hall. They turned into a room and I stopped and leaned against the wall for a bit. I chewed my bottom lip, thinking hard. After a bit I shrugged and resigned myself to being confused for a while. I pushed off from the wall and headed into the room.

It was lunch time. I walked into the cafeteria, hefting my backpack, which was filled with textbooks after having been to half of my classes. I looked at the food line, realized I had no idea exactly how much money was in my pocket, and just walked over to a table. The table was one of the long metal types that seemed to be a staple of every high school everywhere. The seat was basically a lower version of the table top, bolted onto the metal frame. I sat down, dropping my bag next to me. I opened the bag and pulled out the physics book I had been given earlier. I flipped it open and skimmed through the pages. I smiled a little at the familiar material.

"Hey," a voice spoke from in front of me. I looked up, surprised, to find Pan and Bra standing on the other side of the table, trays in hand. Pan shot me a friendly smile. "Anyone sitting here?"

I shook my head and the two of them sat down. Bra started eating while Pan spoke. "You're Gabriel, right?" I nodded again. Pan arched an eyebrow at me. "You don't talk much, do you?"

I smiled. "Sorry. I'm afraid you've decided to talk to one of the rare few quiet males." Bra snorted softly.

"Ain't that the truth," she mumbled through a mouthful of chicken. Pan ignored her.

"Why aren't you eating?"

I felt the familiar upwelling of embarrassment, but pushed it down. "I wasn't sure how it worked here, so I just figured I'd watch for a little. Also, I don't really know how much money I have." She arched her eyebrow again, prompting me to explain. "I, ah, just got here late yesterday and found some cash waiting for me at the place I'm staying." It sounded like a pretty dumb excuse to me, but she just shrugged and dug into her lunch.

After a little she spoke again. "So, where are you from?" I breathed my second internal sigh of relief of the day. We had history earlier, and the map on the wall showed that this earth looked like the one I knew. That actually confused me, since I had thought the earth from the show was different.

"America."

"Well, yeah, that's pretty obvious. Where specifically?"

I grinned sheepishly. "South Carolina."

"Ah, a southern gentleman. I expect my doors held for me."

I smirked. "Only if you also expect them to hit you in the ass on your way through." Bra coughed out a laugh and Pan grinned.

"We've known you for less than 20 minutes and you're already trying to choke Bra. I think we're gonna get along fine." I smiled to myself as she went back to eating. I sat for a second and then started flipping through my book again.

"Man, we're only a week in and we've already got homework in that." I looked up to see Bra looking at my book with a vague look of disgust on her face. Pan swallowed.

"You think it's gonna be hard?" She was looking at me as she asked that.

"Nah," I responded.

"How do you figure?" I pulled a sheet of paper out from closer to the front of the book and handed it to her. She looked at it for a second, then up at me incredulously. "You already did it?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't hard, I figured I'd get it out of the way now."

Pan slid the paper back onto my book. "So that's what you were scribbling at all class. I didn't think he was saying enough to take that many notes. I guess you're just quicker on the uptake then I am."

"Well, I've got a confession. This isn't the first time I've taken this sort of class. And physics is…sort of a hobby for me." That wasn't quite the truth. Back where I was from, I had been a physics major in college. Bra was still staring at me.

"You're an odd one," she said. I smiled, embarrassed. She shook her head and went back to eating.

"Don't mind her," Pan started, "she's just uncultured." Bra grunted. When the bell rang we got up and walked together to our next class.

The end of the day found the three of us standing on the street outside the school. Pan turned to me.

"We're gonna go do some shopping, you wanna come?"

I looked at her. "Go shopping with two teenage girls? That sounds like a lot of fun."

Pan smirked. "Uh huh. Don't worry, I'll keep Bra from going too far off the deep end. We're mostly just going for a couple CDs I want."

I shrugged and nodded. Pan nodded sharply and spun on her heel, as if the subject was never up for question. We set off, heading in the opposite direction from my hotel. After a couple blocks they turned into the store next to us.

It was a full media store, cds, movies, a small bookstore. Pan and Bra moved directly into the cd section. I milled about the movies, glancing and titles and recognizing none. After a while I moved into the cds. I picked up a few, again not recognizing any of the band names. However, when I glanced at the back of one of the cds I realized I recognized every song name on it. Confused, I moved to one of the sample kiosks and ran the barcode under the sensor. When I put on the headphones I heard a familiar guitar riff, followed by a vaguely familiar voice. _Huh,_ I thought, _the singer's different, but it's still pretty close to the version I know._ I took off the headphones and wandered about, picking up one or two more cds.

"Finding something you like?"

I turned my head to see Pan looking over my shoulder. "Yeah, I think." I stopped, and looked down, feeling embarrassed again. "Um, can I ask you a favor?"

She looked at me quizzically. "I'm not gonna buy 'em for you, if that's what you're asking."

I shook my head and pulled out my wallet. "This is really gonna sound dumb, but can you tell me how much money I have?" I handed my wallet to her. She looked at me, down at the wallet in her hand, and back to me.

"You were serious when you said you didn't know what you had?" I nodded, feeling extraordinarily stupid. She opened the wallet and looked inside. Her eyes widened slightly and she whistled softly. "Man, you've got a few hundred Zenni in here, at least."

"I take it from your reaction that that's a lot?"

She looked up at me with a small grimace. "Lemme put it this way; I should be asking you to buy my cds." She closed the wallet and handed it back. "But yeah, you've got plenty. You should also check out that card, see how much is on there. I dunno what exchange group you're with, but they sent you here in style."

I looked down at the ground again, unable to come up with a response. Just then Bra came bouncing over to show Pan something, to which Pan giggled and started talking a mile a minute. Soon after we bought our things and headed outside. We parted ways, me heading back to my hotel, them off to wherever.

"See you tomorrow Gabe," Pan shouted as she waved. I watched them for a few moments until they turned a corner. I smiled a little and turned back to my new home, however temporary it might be.

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That night I lay in bed staring vacantly at the TV, thinking about the day and my situation. While taking a shower I had realized that I had no idea what I was going to do once the time was up on my room. Shortly after having that thought I decided to not think about it for at least a few days, let myself get settled in to this world before I worried about anything else. The TV was full of shows I didn't recognize, and yet seemed oddly familiar, like they were a degree or two off from shows I knew back home.

I grabbed the remote and shut the TV off. I rolled onto my side, facing the window. I smiled at the thought of the unlikely friends I had made that day. I shook my head when I realized the path my thoughts were taking concerning a certain raven haired young woman. _Uh uh, you don't want to be thinking that. You've just met the girl, and you know what kind of shenanigans her family gets into._ I smiled again. I slowly fell asleep, marveling at how my life had changed in a day.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the week passed quickly. I went to school, still feeling odd that I was back in the halls of secondary education. Most of the day was spent with Pan and Bra in varying amounts (some classes we sat closer than others). The afternoons were spent either wandering around the city alone or with the two girls. I got to know the city quickly; I'd always had a pretty good sense of direction once I'd seen an area once.

The area around the hotel was all shops and restaurants. About 2 blocks on the other side of the school from the hotel was a large park. It was hilly, with a stream running diagonally through. A footpath meandered around the park, hugging the stream at times, turning into a thick patch of trees before emerging on the edge of a small lake. It was a nice effect.

There was a movie theater a few blocks away from the hotel as well. One night I went and caught a late movie, a pretty generic action movie. It was enjoyable enough, but I had to shut my brain off for a little while.

Before I knew it, it was Friday, and the last full day my hotel was booked for. I went through classes distractedly, not able to concentrate for very long at a stretch. By the end of the day I still hadn't thought of anything I could do. As we left the building Pan slipped in front of me and stood facing me, hands on hips. I pulled up short at the look on her face.

"OK, what's going on with you today?"

I tried to put an expression of puzzlement on my face. "What do you mean?"

It was obvious I failed in my efforts. "You know exactly what I mean. You've been distracted all day, haven't taken any notes or anything, and barely talked at lunch. Something's up."

I sighed. Before I could talk Bra poked Pan in the arm. "I'm heading home. You two have fun with your argument."

Pan waved her off before turning her attention back to me. She waved her hand in a 'go on' gesture.

"When I got here I was put up in a hotel for a week. My time's up tomorrow and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about a place to stay."

Pan stared at me like she was trying to figure out if I was kidding. I guess she came to a conclusion. "What kind of crazy exchange program is this? I'd like to meet the person that set this up and give him a good punch." She sighed in mock exasperation. "Come on, you're coming with me." I opened my mouth to speak, but she had already turned and was striding away. She looked back at me and waved me forward.

I followed her down the street to a parking garage. Inside we stopped at a red sedan sized car. She pulled out a set of keys and opened the door, unlocking mine with the automatic lock. I pulled it open and got in, throwing my bag in the back. She started the car and drove out of the garage. She weaved through the traffic and out of the city. Once we made it out to the outskirts she flipped a switch and the car rose off the ground, heading high into the sky. I looked out, watching the ground pass beneath me. After a bit of silence I looked at Pan.

"So, where exactly are we going?" She glanced at me and smirked.

"You're coming to dinner." I cocked an eyebrow and looked forward.

"Dinner, huh..." I stared out the window. "How far away do you live, anyway?"

"Oh, it'll be a while yet. Here," she reached down and hit a button. The car filled with music. "That'll help pass the time." She fell silent, her head bobbing gently in time with the music, occasionally tapping on the wheel. I put my head back and closed my eyes.

About 40 or so minutes later we started dropping toward the ground. I looked out and saw a pair of houses in the distance, coming rapidly closer. They were sizeable domes, one white and one yellow. They were separated by a small stretch of lawn, with clotheslines hanging across the grass. At the back part of the lawn was a garden that stretched from one house to the other, a small picket fence surrounding it.

Pan set the car down in front of the white house. I opened the door and walked behind Pan toward the door. She hopped up the two steps to the door and pushed it open. "Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

A woman's voice came at us from down a hall in front of us. "I'm in the kitchen."

Pan glanced at me and spoke softly. "Hang back for a second, I'll tell her you're here." Pan walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Her muffled voice came floating down the hallway to me. I looked around the room I was in. It was a perfect example of a living room; couch in the middle of the room flanked by two chairs, a low table in front of the couch, a large TV past that. I was stepping over to the table to look at the small set of magazines arrayed there when a cheery male voice spoke from behind me.

"Well, hello." I jumped guiltily and spun around. A tall, well muscled man was standing at the top of a short set of stairs that led down to what looked like an office. I hadn't even noticed it when I came in. He had short spiky black hair and was wearing black rimmed glasses. A white button up shirt hung on him, not quite covering the muscles in his arms. "Who might you be?"

I gulped slightly, realizing immediately who it was. My throat was suddenly dry, despite the fact that I knew this particular fighter was probably the least violent of the bunch. "Um, I'm a friend of Pans. She invited me to dinner." I held out my hand, feeling kind of foolish as I did it. "Gabriel Gray." He took my hand and shook. Even in that simple grasp I could feel the power he held just under the surface.

"Gohan," he said. "I'm Pans father."

"Dad!" We both turned and saw Pan walking down the hall quickly, her mother following. "I guess you've already met Gabe. I told him he could eat with us, if that's ok?" She looked at her father with hopeful eyes. He nodded, smiling as his daughter grinned. Then the grin fell from her face. She looked at me. "Um, Gabe, could you stay in here for a few minutes. I've got to talk to my parents about something."

I shrugged and moved over to the couch, where I sat and flipped through one of the magazines. I could hear the muffled sounds of their voices coming from the kitchen. I was engrossed enough in the magazine not to realize that ten minutes or more had passed. Suddenly I realized that someone was standing slightly ahead and beside me. My head darted up and I saw Gohan standing with his hands in his pockets, gazing at me. I smiled nervously, getting a more natural one in return.

"So," he began, sitting down in the chair to my left, "Pan tells me you're an exchange student." I nodded. "She also tells me there was a screw up or something with your living arrangements."

"Something like that. I've only got until tomorrow afternoon before I'm out of the hotel I've been staying in. I figure I'll find like a YMCA or something." He looked at me, a slight haze of confusion in his eyes. "Oh, you must not have those here."

Gohan smiled again and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "Well, whatever you were planning can go out the window. We've got an extra room, and I'm going to insist that you take it."

I sat, stunned, letting that sink in. "Um…not that I'm not grateful, but why? It's not like I've known Pan for very long, I'm not even that good of a friend."

"Yes, but you're a friend none the less. And I'm not someone who's in the habit of turning my back on friends. And that extends to friends of my daughter." He shrugged. "Besides, I wouldn't feel right knowing you were out there with no where to live while I had a room going to waste. Anyway, you're staying here, and that's final." He punctuated that statement by standing. "Well, Videl should have dinner ready pretty soon, let's go ahead into the kitchen."

Gohan led me toward the hall. I stopped short when I saw Pan standing just past the doorway, arms folded and chewing her lip nervously. Gohan stopped beside her and smiled. Pan's face broke out into a mirror of that. She threw her arms around his neck and squealed softly. Gohan grinned broader and scratched the back of his head.

Pan let him go and turned to me. Gohan moved off into the kitchen. I looked at Pan, then down at the floor. "Uh, yeah, y'know…" I trailed off.

She smirked. "I know, you're so happy you're speechless. It's ok, I get that a lot. C'mon, you're gonna love mom's cooking." She spun on her heel and strolled off. I stood for a second, and then jogged after her.

About an hour later I was sitting on the bed in the room I had been given. It was on the second floor, along with a bathroom and Pan's room. At the moment my room contained a queen size bed, a dresser, a small table, and not much else. The ceiling was curved to follow the domed shape of the house. I had moved the bed from the middle of the room against the wall under the one window. The ceiling was pleasantly low above my head.

I stood and walked out of the room to the bathroom. A minute or so later I left and hung a left down the hall, stopping in front of Pan's room. I knocked softly.

"Come in," she said from inside. I opened the door and looked in. It looked pretty much like any teenage girls room; a few posters on the walls showing bands or celebrities, a desk with a computer in the corner, a bed with a bright blue cover. Pan was lying on the bed. She looked up at me from the book she was reading. "What's up?"

"Tomorrow I've gotta go get my stuff from the hotel." She nodded.

"Yeah, I figured that. We'll go around 10 or so, if that's ok." I smiled and nodded back. I turned to go, and then stopped in the doorway, one hand on the knob. I looked back at Pan, who was absorbed in her book again. "Pan?"

She looked up at me, a lock of hair falling across her face. She blew air up, floating the hair back into position. "Yeah?"

I stared at her seriously. "Thanks."

She looked back, blinking, and then smiled warmly. "It was nothing, really."

I shook my head. "It wasn't nothing, but I know what you mean. Seriously, I don't know what to say."

She smiled again. "Just keep helping me with that physics and you'll earn your keep." I half-smiled and turned, shutting the door behind me. I went back into my room and lay down, pulling my book over to me and cracking it open to where I had left off. The sun slowly dropped below the horizon, and I glanced up just in time to see the last rays disappear out of the dull red sky.

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The next day the two of us set off at about 10. The plan was to go by the hotel, get my stuff, check out, and then meet up with Bra and her brother for lunch. The hotel went quickly since I didn't have much stuff. We got back in the car after loading it up and drove out to the edge of the city. There was a sprawling complex, several large domes arrayed in a loose circle with a lawn between them. All the buildings had the Capsule Corporation logo stenciled in black across the side.

Pan pulled the car up next to one of the buildings and stepped out. I followed her up to the door. She rang the doorbell and stood back. A few moments later the door swung open. I stepped back a little when the dark-eyed glare fell on me. A short, well muscled man stood in front of us, wearing a muscle shirt and sweats, arms folded across his broad chest. His most striking feature was his jet black spike of hair, standing up like a black flame. He looked back and forth between the two of us.

"Hi Vegeta," Pan said cheerfully. He grunted in return and stepped back, eyes still on me. Pan looked at me, then back at Vegeta. "This is Gabe, a friend of me and Bras." He stared at me a moment longer, then turned and walked back into the house, saying nothing. Pan looked at me, smirking. "Don't mind him. He's not very talkative." I smiled uneasily. Pan led the way inside. "Bra!" she called. An inarticulate shout came as a reply from down the hall. We walked down it into the living room.

Bra was lying sprawled out on a large couch facing a massive TV. She had the remote held slackly in her hand, which was dangling off the edge of the couch. Pan walked up behind the couch, hopped over it, and landed just past Bra's feet. I sat on the arm of the couch on the other end. Bra glanced up at me and waved weakly. I smirked.

"Long night?" Bra grunted. Pan giggled.

"She had to go with her mother to a Capsule Corp. banquet. How long did Bulma insist on staying this time?"

"Until 1 AM," Bra groaned out. "It took another hour just to get home."

"Y'see, this is why I quit that job," came a male voice from behind us. I looked over my shoulder and saw a tall, 30-ish man with purple hair standing in the door. Pan hopped up and over the back of the couch, then hopped over and gave the man a hug.

"Trunks! Long time no see!" Trunks smirked and patted Pan on the back. Pan let go after a second and turned to me. I stood at her look. "Trunks, this is Gabe."

Trunks stepped over, looked me up and down, and held out a hand, which I took. He let go and stepped back. "Well, I guess it's good that Pan's getting friends other than Bra. She's a bit hard to get along with."

"Thanks, dad," Pan grumbled, punching Trunks in the arm. I laughed at the expression on his face. Pan strode to the couch, grabbed Bra's arm and hauled her up. "Well, are we going or what?" We did.

We ate at a small café a few blocks from the large Capsule Corp. building that housed the main offices in the city. Our conversation ranged everywhere from clothes (which me and Trunks stayed out of) to the classic 'which superhero could beat which other' (which Bra stayed out of). I spent a fair amount of the time watching people go by on the street, listening to the conversation and jumping in when I had something to say. After lunch we parted ways, me and Pan going back to the car, Trunks and Bra going home. All in all, not a bad Saturday.


	3. Chapter 3

The trouble started on a Thursday morning.

It's always been my way to hide things from myself, forget about them for as long as possible. I've done it with everything from relatively mundane things like a bad grades in a class adding up to something more serious, like when my dad had a heart attack. I don't let things get to me, letting problems build up until something sets me off.

It was the next to last class of the day; History. It was a couple weeks after I moved in to Pan's house, and everything had been going great. Gohan had gotten me a semi-old computer from his work. I had settled in well to the new living arrangements, even though getting to and from school was an hour long affair both ways, meaning we had to get up ass early. Like, before the sun came up early.

This day had begun a little badly. It was raining, and I had a bit of a headache. Because of the rain we had to go slower than usual with the car, which led to us running to get into class on time. Because the floors were wet from people tracking in water, I had slipped and conked myself pretty good on the forehead, ramping up my headache even more.

I reached up and rubbed the spot I had hit gently, wincing at the spike of pain that shot through the dull ache that had been there since I got up. The teacher was wrapping up a point he had made the last class, and quickly moved on to the new subject.

"Well, now we're going to talk about genealogy." I looked at him while he talked, not really hearing much. Then my day got even worse.

"So, for an example; Gabe, what do your parents do for a living?"

It hit me when I heard those words: I hadn't even thought about my parents, or any of the people I knew back home, since the first week I was here. My thoughts rushed over them, seeing faces in my mind, hearing voices and seeing names, realizing I'd probably never see any of them again. My parents, my brother, my friends, none of them. It hit like a sledgehammer to the face: my life before this place was over.

"Gabe?" I looked up, seeing the teacher, and not seeing him. I swallowed.

"Can I be excused, I'm not feeling well," I asked softly. His brow wrinkled, but he nodded. I shoved my book into my bag and grabbed it, walking quickly from the room, ignoring the looks I was getting from Pan and Bra, my head still spinning. I turned right and walked down the hall, not stopping at the bathroom or the nurses' office. I made a beeline straight for the main doors, walking out into the rain. I walked down the street, not paying attention to where I was walking. I didn't bother pulling the hood of my jacket up, I just walked. Luckily my backpack was waterproof, or everything in it would have been soaked through that day.

My thoughts drifted from one thing to another, focusing on people I knew back in what I was beginning to think of as my old life. I heard my mother telling me to feed the dogs, my father asking what was happening with my classes. Just the thought of my dog made me stumble a little.

After a while I realized I had made a circle, coming back to the school. In my daze I somehow even made perfect timing. People were filing out of the building, opening umbrellas or pulling coats close around them against the rain. I stared at the crowd listlessly, standing under a tree to get a little out of the rain. A minute later I heard an angry female shout.

"There you are!" I looked to my right and saw Pan storming toward me, Bra hanging back a bit. "Where the hell have you been? What got into you, walking out in the middle of school?" She stopped and fisted her hands on her hips.

I stared at her sullenly. "It was nothing."

"Nothing my ass! Seriously, what the hell?"

I pushed off the tree and brushed past her. "Not now. Let's just go home."

I heard her sputter from behind me. Then I heard her hurrying to catch up with me. "Fine. But I'm not happy with you right now."

"Join the club," I muttered. I caught her looking at me in surprise out of the corner of my eye. We walked in silence to the car, where we got in and continued the silence all the way home. When I got out I was still damp and cold. I went quickly inside, up the stairs, and into my room. I got some dry clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I stood and let the scalding water heat up my cold bones for a good while, trying not to think.

After a good 20 minutes I finished up, dried off, and got dressed. I went back into my room and sat on my bed, staring out the window, back to the door. I sat that way for a long time, thinking, trying not to think. My brain kept turning toward the image of my parents frantically searching for me, not knowing what had happened.

_You were pretty hard on Pan earlier._

I jumped a little at the voice in my head. _Well, I have a right to be angry. My life was thrown upside-down and down a ravine in the past few weeks._

_Yes, but she doesn't know that._

I looked up, actually seeing my room for the first time since I got home. It was dark; it must have been past dinner. I felt my stomach grumble, but I before I could do anything else, I had some crow to eat.

Standing outside Pans door I realized just how big of an ass I had been earlier. I steeled myself and knocked. Pans reply came quickly. I pushed the door open slowly to find her staring at me. Her expression was unreadable. "Can I come in?"

She nodded; I stepped in and shut the door behind me. I looked at her, looked away, looked back, then sighed and let my head fall. "About earlier today…" I took a breath and found the apology spilling out of me quicker than I could think. "I was a complete ass, you didn't deserve how I treated you, I'm sorry." I stared at the floor for a little, then glanced up. She was watching me; her face had lost the stony expression it had when I came in. She scooted over on the bed and motioned next to her. I walked over and sat down heavily.

"What happened? Why were you so upset?" I stared at my hands, unable to think of how to proceed. I couldn't tell her the truth, she wouldn't believe it. _Of course, this girl has been through space, seen the planet basically destroyed two or three times and brought back to life, and who knows what else._ I shook my head to clear it. Before I could think of anything to say I found my mouth moving of its own accord again.

"My parents are gone. My brother too. My whole family…I'm never going to see them again." I felt tears threatening, and tried to clamp down on them. I would have succeeded, except for the small, cool hand that laid itself on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Pan was staring at me, her eyes filled with questions and sympathy.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly. Those words, said in that tone of apology and sadness, broke me. I collapsed into sobs. I felt her pull me to her, my head on her shoulder, and I didn't resist. We sat that way, her rubbing my back gently, me crying into her shoulder. I hadn't actually told her anything, she just guessed from what I had said. I was pretty sure she'd guessed wrong, but the truth and her take on it were close enough, and along the same track. I don't know exactly how long we stayed like that, but long enough for me to get almost a month of suppressed emotion out of me.

I pushed myself up some time later and wiped my eyes. They were puffy from the crying, but I felt better than I had all day. She looked at me and I tried to smile. I was rewarded with a return smile. "Feel better?" she asked. I nodded. "So that's why that question shook you up so bad. I was worried it was something like that, but I didn't want to ask."

I spoke, able to think again now that the haze that had covered my brain all day was gone. "I was sent here after they were gone. I don't…really remember much. It's all kind of a haze…" I trailed off, not knowing where I was going, but Pan just nodded. I smiled at her a little sadly and shrugged. She grabbed my hand gently.

"You don't have to try and tell me if you don't want. But whenever you need to, I'm open." I started to speak, but my stomach beat me to it. I looked down and back up, embarrassed. Pan just laughed. She stood and went to the door. "Come on, mom saved some dinner for you." I stood and followed her out of the room.

Videl was in the living room watching TV when we passed. She looked up at me. "There you are. How are you feeling?"

"Better."

She nodded. "That's good. We were worried about you, but Pan told us to just let you be."

I blinked. "Well, thank you. I just needed to work through a couple things." She nodded, smiled, and turned back to the TV.

Pan was already in the kitchen, digging through the fridge. She pulled out a couple Tupperware containers and grabbed a plate off the drying rack over the sink. She dumped the contents of one of the containers on the plate and into the microwave. Three minutes later the plate was in front of me and I was wolfing down the contents. Pan left me and went out into the living room. When I finished I rinsed off the plate and put it on the rack, then went out to sit with Pan and Videl. An hour or so later and I was feeling the effects of the day. I stood and, saying goodnight to the women, went upstairs, got undressed, and collapsed into bed.

Friday came and went, dropping Saturday in front of me before I realized it. I woke up early that day, drawn out of my sleep by loud thumps and yells. I sat up and looked outside. All was calm out back, but every now and then there was a flash of light from the other side of the house. I got up and got dressed. I made a stop in the bathroom on the way downstairs, heading for the door. In the living room I passed Videl, who glanced up at me, went back to her reading then, just as I reached the door, jumped up.

"Hang on a sec, don't…" But by that point I had already opened the door and stepped outside. A white and orange blur shot past, carrying with it grunts, yelps, and the occasional triumphant laugh. I stood staring, noticing with a disinterested part of my brain that Videl was standing beside me, closely watching my reaction.

"It gets better," she said. I looked at her and she smirked. "I remember looking like that the first time I saw Gohan really fight."

I arched my eyebrow and asked the question I thought she expected, though I already knew the answer. "Gohan fights?"

She shook her head and I saw the slightest sad look flicker across her features. "Back when I met him he did, but not for a long time." Before I could respond and angry shriek ripped through the morning air.

"Mom!" I looked to the source of the yell and saw Pan flying toward me, her uncle Goten floating in the distance behind her. He waved cheerily, but Pan dropped in front of me before I could return the gesture. Her eyes darted from me to her mother. She leaned in to hiss at her mother. "I told you to warn me if he was coming out."

Videl shrugged apologetically. "He got to the door before I could stop him." She looked at me, then turned and opened the door. "Besides, I don't think you have anything to worry about." With that she went inside and shut the door. Pan looked at me nervously, chewing her bottom lip.

"Um…so…"

"You can fly?" She seemed to shrink into herself a little and nodded. I felt a smile blooming on my face. "You think you can teach me?"

She straightened and stared at me. "What? You're not freaked out?"

I laughed. "No way. I think this is awesome. And the fighting. Man, you were amazing up there."

She seemed to expand, shoulders straightening, an 'aw shucks' expression appearing on her. Then her forehead crinkled.

"You seem to be taking this rather well. Usually seeing someone flying around and, let's face it, doing things no human should do makes a person freak out a bit."

I smiled and, by way of explanation, reached out a hand to a group of rocks sitting about 10 feet away. They ranged from the size of a tennis ball to about half the size of a head. Five of them lifted off the ground, and I pulled them over and set them spinning around Pan. They weaved a semi-intricate pattern, crossing over each others' paths. Pan gaped at them.

"You're not the only one hiding abilities." I sent the rocks back to land where I had gotten them. She turned from watching the rocks sail to their resting place, a huge smile lighting her face.

"That was great! What else can you do?" I scratched the back of my head, a habit I had picked up from living in close proximity with Gohan and Goten.

"Not a lot, just variations on that really." I thought of the saber resting in the drawer of my bedside table, and wondered if using that would come as naturally as the telekinesis did. Pan turned and laughed, raising her hands slightly.

"This is great! I've been freaking out for weeks about how you'd react to this. Of course I'll teach you to fly."

We started right then. It was a colossal failure, to say the least. Pan assured me that it would take a while to get it. When Goten strolled over, announcing that he'd gotten it down in less than a day, Pan punched him hard in the arm. I laughed. We took a break for lunch, then went right back to the lesson. Pan sat me down and tried to explain the basics again.

"OK, so every person has a life force, called Ki. In order to fly you have to channel the Ki, pushing against the ground and lifting yourself. It could be difficult for you, since you haven't ever done any Ki manipulation." I nodded and stood. I took a breath, closed my eyes, and focused. I considered how I channeled the Force to lift those rocks earlier. _From what she was saying, it's not all that much different than just reaching out and pushing. Maybe I can come at the problem sideways, use what I can already do and apply it to this._

I focused, drawing on the subconscious ability I had, pushing against the ground. I realized quickly that it wasn't working. I sighed and relaxed. I reached down into myself, feeling how my body was reacting to my thoughts and tapping into the power I had. I didn't actually know how I was accessing these abilities; it was all done subconsciously, without me really having to try very hard. However, I could sense how my body accessed the abilities.

I studied it for a bit before concentrating and shifting my focus slightly. I drew energy from a slightly different area, a more primal force than the one I'd found myself tapping into. I pushed. Opening my eyes, I saw Pan standing with her arms crossed, smiling and nodding. I looked down and saw my feet floating several inches from the ground. I grinned, losing my concentration and falling back to earth.

"You're getting the hang of this pretty quick. I'm impressed."

I shrugged, lowering back to the ground. "I just had to think of it from a direction I already knew. I know how to tap into my abilities to do things, so I altered my thinking a little, used what I knew to get around my lack of Ki ability."

"That's a pretty clever way to go about it." We both turned at the new voice. Gohan was standing in the door of the house, hands in his pockets, leaning slightly against the doorframe. "The hardest part about flying is understanding the concept. After that it's pretty easy to actually pull it off. Anyway, your mother's got dinner almost ready. Come on in and get cleaned up." We followed Gohan inside, washed up, then sat for dinner. That night we began a mini tradition. During dinner Gohan would retell the exploits of his family and friends over the years. Dinner stretched out almost half an hour longer than usual, the daylight fading as Gohan regaled us with stories from his younger days.


	4. Chapter 4

The weeks flew by. Before I knew it I had been living at Pans for over two months. I managed to get flying down in only about 3 days. After that we started flying to school. It let us cut almost an hour off our travel time both ways, allowing us to sleep a good bit longer.

After dinner one day I took my lightsaber outside and went behind the house. The forest loomed on the edge of the yard, a good 100 feet away. The shadows were lengthening under the trees, lending a slightly ominous air to the yard. I held the hilt of the saber up in front of me and lit it. The emerald blade beat back the deepening shadows, illuminating the yard and casting a jagged shadow of myself against the wall.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Dropping into a slight crouch, I shifted my left leg back and twisted my body slightly to the left. I held the blade in a two handed grip at waist level, angled slightly away from me. I let myself go, like I did when moving things using the Force, and trusted my subconscious to tell me what to do. It didn't disappoint.

I started striking the air, using short quick slices and jabs. My technique was sloppy, but workable. I could somehow tell when a move I made could have been done better, but didn't yet know how to fix it. It was just another instance of my subconscious knowing what to do without my input. I let loose a flurry of strikes, focusing on a tree in the distance, imagining it directly in front of me. As I finished I amazed myself by dropping to the ground and executing a near flawless sweep followed by a rising roundhouse. My breath slowed as I let the blade drop, turning it off. The sound of soft clapping from behind made me jump slightly.

When I turned around Pan was leaning against the back door of the house. "Bravo. I didn't know you had it in you."

I grinned sheepishly. "Neither did I, honestly. I'm amazed I didn't trip over my own feet with that last one."

"I thought you were gonna slice off your leg."

"Oh, thanks for your concern." She smiled sweetly.

"Come on inside, it's movie night." I followed her inside and settled into one of the chairs in front of the TV.

Later that night found me lying on the roof, hands behind my head, gazing up at the night sky. The window to my room was sitting open a few feet to my right. I closed my eyes and thought of home.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I opened my eyes and looked toward the voice. Pan was sitting on the edge of my window, legs resting on the sloped surface of the house.

"My dad was an astronomer. I was just thinking how I wish I had listened to him more when he was pointing out stars and constellations and things." I sighed a little.

Pan moved to sit beside me. "You miss 'em, huh?" I nodded. She looked up at the sky. "I know it's not really the same, but my grandpa's out there somewhere, and I miss him too. I was really close to him while I was growing up, and sometimes I just wish he'd come back so bad I could scream." She looked down at me and smiled a little. "Like I said, not the same."

"Maybe, but it's close." I closed my eyes again. A few second later I felt a breath of air on my cheek and opened my eyes. Pan had moved; her face was inches from mine, hovering above me. My breath caught in my throat. Her eyes looked back and forth between mine, searching. I blinked, feeling very much like a deer in headlights. After a few seconds she closed the distance between us and kissed me. It was a soft, tentative thing, and it didn't last long. She pulled back and looked at me. I opened my mouth, then closed it again without speaking.

"I don't know what this means," she said softly. I nodded. "I like you, I know that for sure, but I haven't known you very long. And the fact you're living with me, putting us with each other every day, that might have affected things. So just know that I'm not sure yet."

"No problem." She smiled a little and sat up. I stared at the sky, still a little stunned. We sat in silence for 10 or 15 minutes before Pan stirred.

"I think I'm gonna head for bed."

"Yeah, I think I'll go with you." She leveled a dark gaze on me, and what I had said echoed in my brain. "Oh, crap, that's not what I meant. I mean I'll go in with you and…" I trailed off as I saw the humor flickering in her gaze. I glared and she laughed. She scooted over to my window and slid inside. I walked her out of my room and to her door. She opened it and turned to me. She stared at me for a long moment then, moving close, reached up and grabbed the back of my head. She pulled me close and kissed me again, longer this time. When she pulled back I was feeling rather flushed.

"Good night," she said softly, giving me a tiny smile, just the barest curve at the corners of her mouth, before slipping into her room and closing the door. I rested my head silently on her door, the wood cool against my forehead. I stayed that way for a few moments before pulling back and walking into the bathroom. When I saw myself in the mirror I saw I was grinning broadly.

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The next morning I rose happily, going through my morning routine with a perpetual smile on my face. As I went into the kitchen, the smile faded some. Pan was hunched over her plate, looking tired. She glanced up at me before focusing completely on her food. I frowned, my eyebrows coming down and my forehead crinkling. We ate in silence before heading out the door.

We took flight, heading in the direction of the city. We flew in silence, Pan slightly ahead and to the left of me. She was staring down at the ground, lost in thought. After a few minutes I pulled up beside her and touched her arm. She jumped and fell a few feet before she caught herself. She looked at me hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Can we land for a second?"

She nodded and started dropping to the ground. We landed on a small mesa, a road winding around the base some distance below us. I looked at her, she looked down, past me, to the side; basically anywhere but at me.

"Are you OK?" I asked, stepping a little closer.

She stared at the ground. "I'm sorry about last night…"

I blinked. _Sorry?_ "Why are you…" She cut me off, the words flowing from her faster than I could process them.

"I'm sorry I dropped that on you. You were thinking about your family and I threw that stupid teenage girl crap in your lap. I shouldn't have, I should have thought first, you're probably mad at me…"

I held up my hands, palms toward her as if to ward off the words. "Woah, woah, hang on. I'm not mad. I hadn't even thought of that." I smiled reassuringly. "Believe me, I'm happy about what happened." I frowned again. "Are you?"

She opened her mouth, closed it, opened again. "Yeah," she began hesitantly, "of course, I just thought…" She shrugged weakly. I stepped up to her and put my hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me, the worried look still in her eyes.

"Look, don't worry about me. Yeah I miss my family, but you're right here. I know you're not sure about this, but I'm willing to wait and see. Hell, I'm happy to wait."

Finally a real smile appeared on her. She nodded. "Sorry. I was being dumb." I shrugged.

"Nothing I'm not used to." I hopped back out of her reach before what I said could sink in and took off into the sky. Half a second later I heard an outraged shout, followed by the sound of Pan launching herself after me. She caught up quickly, giving me a good solid smack on the arm. I laughed and rubbed my arm, flying on.

At lunch we were sitting as usual, Pan and Bra on one side of the table, me on the other. Bra was flipping through a newspaper she had brought with her from home.

"Ugh, did you see that red carpet show last night?"

Pan stared at Bra. "You're asking me if I watched a bunch of celebrities stroll down a rug babbling about their personal lives for an hour."

Bra looked up. "Yeah, I didn't think so. Anyway, this one woman was wearing this godawful pink thing. No idea what she was thinking."

Pan reached over and grabbed a piece of the paper Bra had put aside. "If I had it my way I'd stick to the funny pages." She flipped the paper open and started scanning the pages absently. "Huh. Look at this; a bunch of stores got robbed last night. There was someone sitting in the middle of the store in every one of 'em, just waiting to get picked up." She looked at me and smirked. "Guess they didn't want to bother waiting to get home to be arrested." I smirked. Bra looked at me then at Pan, eying us oddly.

"You OK?" I asked for the second time that day. Bra gazed at me before nodding.

"Something happened between you two," she declared.

I sputtered softly. "Huh…what makes you say that?" Pan rolled her eyes.

"Good work, she'll never suspect a thing," she muttered. Bra's eyes widened.

"Something did happen! What? Go on, spill it." Pan glared at me, causing me to shrink back a bit and shrug helplessly. I decided to evacuate temporarily. I stood.

"I'm gonna go get a soda, you two get the girl talk out of the way." I walked down the hall, got a soda out of the vending machine, and walked back. By the time I made it back to the table Pan had filled Bra in on everything. I sat and Bra looked at me.

"Well, lucky you. You get the girl and don't have to do any work." I looked down, feeling embarrassed. Bra slapped my arm. "I'm just kidding, you mook." She and Pan moved on, talking about everything and nothing.

At the end of the day the three of us wandered around like we often did, Pan and Bra stopping in different stores to look around, me tailing behind. We passed a shop that looked somewhat worse for wear. A portion of the store was closed off with police tape, random merchandise scattered around the area that was roped off.

The clerk was regaling anyone who'd listen about how she'd caught the thief that had robbed the store single handedly. She was a little older than we were, probably about college age, and was loving the attention she was getting. As we passed I heard "yeah, he was just sitting there. Didn't even seem to notice me. When the cops showed up he looked around like he had no idea where he was. Good actor, but he didn't fool me." As my gaze passed the roped off area and I took in the chaos, the broken glass and scattered goods, I felt a twinge of unease and shook my head.

Farther down the block Pan and Bra turned into yet another store, Pan assuring me we were almost done. I responded, not paying much attention. A flyer tacked to a telephone pole had caught my eye. It was a colorful piece of paper advertising the coming of the annual fair. An idea hit me. _Oh, come on, the fair? Like that's not cliché. _As I thought about it, it started to seem like a better and better idea. I continued to think about it until we were halfway home, soaring above vast hilly fields. I sped up to get next to Pan.

"Hey, Pan." She looked at me. I tried to sound nonchalant, but thought I could hear the faint quaver of nervousness in my voice. "You ever been to the fair?"

She looked at me, brow crinkling as she thought over the question. _Oh man, that was a dumb start. Of course she's been to the fair._ Then her face cleared and she smiled knowingly.

"Yeah, but I'm always up for another visit, if you're offering?" I felt a smile appear on my face unbidden and nodded. She darted closer and hooked her arm in mine. "Then it's a date." If I hadn't already been flying, I'm sure from the way I felt that I would've taken off had I wanted to or not.


	5. Chapter 5

I was nervous as all hell. I was sitting in the living room, hands clasped between my knees. My left leg was bouncing up and down uncontrollably. I could hear Pan moving around in her room. Despite the fact she had agreed to this, and that it really wasn't much different then two friends wandering around the fair, I couldn't help being worried. I jumped when Gohan laid his hand on my shoulder. I looked up, grinning my embarrassment, and he sat down in the chair to my left.

"You're ready, I take it?" I nodded and he sighed theatrically. "Like mother like daughter, I suppose. They say they don't like all the girly stuff, but then we wind up sitting around for half an hour waiting on them." He smiled and pulled off his glasses. He folded his shirt over the lens and wiped absently at it. "I remember once I was waiting for Videl to get ready, back when we were first dating. She was running back and forth through the house so fast and frantic that she ended up running right into a door." He grinned. "I never let her hear the end of it."

I spoke. "I hope you're ok with this. I mean, I've been…" I trailed off as he shook his head.

"Uh uh, don't start. I've had a feeling about you for a while. I'm not worried." He smiled again. I felt a little thrill at his acceptance. I didn't think he'd have any problem with me taking his daughter on a date, but it was still reassuring to hear it.

Just then I heard Pan's door slam and her light footfalls coming down the stairs. I stood and turned in time to see her step into the room. She was dressed in jeans and a light green blouse, with a black light jacket over it. It was casual dress, but she still looked…_Oh, just say it_…well, she looked gorgeous. I was finding it disturbingly hard to speak. She took up the slack.

"OK, I'm ready. Bye daddy, we'll be back in a while." She kissed her father on the cheek and grabbed my arm, pulling me out the door. We took to the skies, the chill wind blowing by, starting our coats flapping like ship sails. We flew in comfortable silence. I watched the sun disappear slowly below the horizon, turning the sky a dark dusty orange. Soon enough we found ourselves nearing the fairgrounds. I could hear the sounds of the fair; machinery clanking, carnival music, and the delighted screams of ride patrons. We landed a fair distance away and walked the rest of the way to the entrance.

We reached the ticket booth and I pulled out my wallet. I had discovered to my amazement that the debit card I had had several thousand Zenni on it, so I wasn't even close to using it up. I had pulled a hundred or so out for tonight; knowing how Pans family ate, I could be buying a lot of snacks. I bought two tickets and we headed inside.

We wandered around for a little while, taking in everything. As I had expected, shortly after we went in Pan asked for a snack. We got in line and I got a pair of elephant ears; sugar coated pastries that seemed as big as an elephants ear, hence the name. We ate and walked. Pan suddenly stopped short.

I looked at her, then followed her gaze. She was looking at a carnival game. It looked like the object of the game was to throw a ball into one of a couple dozen holes in a grid pattern on a piece of plywood. The holes were numbered, probably a point value. Pan spoke softly.

"I do not believe it." I glanced at her, confused. She pointed. "You see that doll there?" I followed her finger. She was pointing to a doll of a man in costume. He looked to be wearing a black body suit with a green tunic on top of it, with white gloves and boots. He had a red cape attached at the shoulders, and was wearing an orange helmet with a black visor. I looked at Pan.

"That's my dad," she said wonderingly. I stared at her. She looked at me and shook her head. "Remember the stories he was telling, when he and mom tried being superheroes?" I nodded. "That's him. That's his superhero." She stared at it for a moment longer before pulling me toward the booth.

"Woah, hang on. Are you expecting me to get that for you?" She smiled sweetly at me.

"Oh, come on, don't you want to be the big man, impress the girl?"

I shook my head. "These things are rigged. The ball probably just barely fits through those holes. I doubt I could win."

"Maybe not normally, but you've got a trick or two." She grinned evilly.

I looked at her and smirked. "So you want me to cheat the cheater?"

"Something like that."

"You're evil, you know that?" She nodded but didn't say anything, since we'd made it to the booth. The guy behind the counter stopped his constant stream of greetings and invitations and turned to us. He was wearing a pinstriped shirt, white and red, tucked into khaki pants. His gaze was bright and full of mirth and mischief.

"Hey there, little lady. Does your boyfriend there want to try his luck, win you something special?"

I blanched at the descriptive the man had used for me, but Pan just nodded. "Yup. He's got it in his head to win me something. I told him it's not possible, but he insists." I glared at her, she smiled innocently.

"Well, that's a good choice, sonny. Here, this is what I'll do for you. I'll give you one free throw, then it'll be 5 zenni for 3 balls. Sound good?" I nodded and he slapped a ball into my waiting palm. Pan stepped aside, as did the man. I looked at the board, then at the doll, checking the points I'd need to get it. I aimed for one of the holes that would get me the doll in one and threw the ball.

I didn't use any powers to help, I just wanted to test, see what the throw felt like. The ball bounced off the wood to the right of the hole. I looked at Pan, who was glaring a little. I gave her a 'hang on' look. Her glare softened, but didn't disappear. The man in the booth gave an exaggerated exclamation of sorrow.

"Well, you gonna try again?" I nodded and pulled out my wallet. I fished out the money and handed it to him, and got 3 balls in return. I threw them one after another, using the Force to get each one a little closer to going in, nudging them gently. The last one I took complete control of, guiding it in a shallow arc directly through the hole. Pan let out a small shout, pumping her fist. The man smiled.

"Good job, son. Now, which one will it be?" Pan pointed excitedly at the doll. The man laughed. "Ah, a true fan. All these years later and this old boy's getting claimed. Enjoy." He handed the doll to Pan. She hugged it to her chest and slipped her free arm through mine. I flushed a little, face warming from the feel of her beside me.

For the next few hours we wandered around, going on whatever rides struck us as fun (usually me going along with whatever Pan picked), snacking if we felt like it, and just generally taking in the sites. Eventually we started to feel tired. We were heading toward the entrance when I spied a bathroom.

"Hang on, gimme a minute." I split from her and went in. A couple minutes later I came out to a mass of people moving in a hurry deeper into the fair. I couldn't see Pan anywhere. I looked around, eventually spotting her in the middle of a crowd of people creating a semi-circle at the entrance to a space formed by the sides of two tents. I pushed through the crowd, slowly pulling up beside Pan. She looked over, a disturbed look on her face.

"I think someone's been killed." I stared at her, not comprehending. The unease I had felt in the store the other day had returned. I pushed farther forward, not knowing exactly why. I heard Pan say something, but didn't catch what it was before she was swallowed by the crowd. I elbowed through the last line of people and got to the front. What I saw stopped me dead, my stomach dropping to my feet.

A figure that may have once been a woman lay curled on the ground. She was no more than a charred husk. It looked like she had been burned alive. _Or cooked by lightning._ I shook my head, not knowing where that thought had come from. I stared at the body that had contorted unnaturally in its last moments, trying to comprehend. I couldn't. The crowd pushed forward, and I let myself be swallowed by it. I was carried backward by the forward momentum of the bodies around me. When the people cleared out, I found myself at the back of a large mob of bodies, Pan standing nearby, clutching her doll to her chest with both arms. I moved over to her, grimacing.

"Was I right?" she asked softly. I nodded and her eyes fell.

"Come on, let's get home." She let me take her arm and guide her out of the fair. At a suitable distance we took off and flew toward home. We were quiet the whole way back. When we got there Pan immediately went upstairs to her room, passing Videl in the hall. I explained to her what had happened. When I finished I followed Pan upstairs, going into my room and sitting down. After a few minutes I got undressed and slid into bed.

_Dammit,_ I thought, _a crappy end to a perfectly good date. Should have known something would go wrong._ With that thought I drifted off to sleep.

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It was dark. Not a normal dark, an inky, shifting blackness. I could look around, little good it did me, but not much else. Off in the distance I realized I could see a small pinprick of light. After a few moments the light rushed toward me (or me toward the light, there was no sense of motion to judge with). It overtook me, blasting the dark away.

I looked around. I was on the street in front of my house. Not Pans house, Home. My world. But I was still the same as I had been for the past few months. I looked toward the house and saw the door opening and my mother stepping out onto the porch. She was a thin woman, good looking for her age, with short curly brown hair. The light yellow walls of the house seemed to stretch forever into the sky. The narrow road in front of the house was absent any cars, even the ones that were perpetually parked along the curbs.

There was no sound, even though my mother opened her mouth to greet me. She didn't greet me like I had disappeared for several months and suddenly showed up again. She walked down to the sidewalk in front of me and stopped, saying something.

I tried to talk, but couldn't. She finished whatever she had been saying and turned around. My arm began to rise on its own. I realized with a mounting horror that I was gripping my lightsaber. I screamed in my head, trying to get her to turn around, to run, something. But she didn't respond, didn't see or sense the threat until it was too late.

My thumb stroked the ignition switch and the blade shot out and through the middle of my mothers back. She jerked, stood still for a moment, and then crumpled, sliding off the end of my saber. I screamed again, the sound of my voice filling my head but not escaping into the world around me. I stared down at my mother's body, hatred and sorrow filling me. I screamed once more as I felt my mouth curve into a grin.

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I shot straight up fast enough to smash my head into the curved surface of the ceiling over my bed. I cried out and fell back, stars filling my vision and pain splitting my brain in half. I rolled onto my side and retched, thankfully not bringing anything to the surface. I coughed harshly and lay back, gasping. My vision cleared slowly and I saw my room, moonlight streaming in through the window onto my legs. The cover was thrown off the bed, the sheets sticking to me with sweat. I tossed the sheet off and bent to get my cover, pulling it over me.

I glanced at the clock; 3:26. The dream played over and over; the silence, my mother's smiling face, the bright green blade reaching out to stop her heart. I realized I was crying, and didn't try to stop it.

_It wasn't a dream, though. Not quite._ I blinked at the ceiling; the voice in my head wasn't familiar. At least, it wasn't mine.

_OK, if it wasn't a dream, what was it?_

_A premonition._

I coughed, thinking about that. I did have the Force after all, and it wasn't all lifting rocks and throwing balls to win prizes. There was a darker side to everything, and this particular ability had quite a lot of darkness associated with it. I rolled over, feeling my head pound, and stared at the wall. I didn't think I'd be getting much sleep the rest of that night. I proved myself wrong; less than 10 minutes later I was out, sleeping a deep, mercifully dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I groaned as senses came to me; the sound of birds, the smell of something cooking, the feel of my cover crumpled about my waist. My head was killing me. It felt like I had drunk myself to sleep the night before. I pushed myself up on my elbows, squinting at the light pouring in through the window. Slowly the night before came back to me, starting with the dream (_premonition_) and working backward. I shuddered at the memory of my dream, and of the body at the fair. I got up and got dressed slowly. In the bathroom I tossed back a few painkillers for my head.

I trudged downstairs into the living room. The TV was on, Gohan was sitting in front of it. The screen showed a shot of the entrance to the fair, which was disturbingly empty for opening weekend. Gohan looked up at me as I entered. He was frowning.

"They're reporting on what you guys saw last night." I sat in one of the chairs and listened.

"Witness reports say the body was the same as it was found when the police arrived. The woman, still unidentified, appears to have been burned, or possibly electrocuted. There are no suspects as of yet, but police assure us they are doing everything in their power to find the person responsible." Gohan shook his head slowly.

"This doesn't feel right." I looked at him and he continued. "Something about this doesn't ring right to me. Least of all the explanation for how a woman got burned to a crisp in the middle of a crowded fairground without anyone seeing." He stood and turned off the TV. He walked from the room, heading down into his office. I sat for a moment before standing and going into the kitchen.

Videl was sitting at the table reading. She looked up at me and smiled. "I saved some breakfast for you, if you want it." I smiled and nodded. She started to get up, but I stopped her and moved to the fridge myself. I got the food out and made a plate. I heated it, sat, and ate. When I finished I looked at Videl.

"Do you know where Pan is?"

"She went to Bras for a while. She looked a little wound up, so she probably went to train with Vegeta." I nodded and stood.

"I'm gonna go over there and find her. I'll be back later." I left the house and took off. A little while later I arrived at Bras. I could hear the now familiar sounds of sparring from around the house. I floated over the building and saw Pan and Vegeta hovering about 10 feet off the ground, trading blows. They rocked back and forth as they traded going on the offensive. Neither seemed to gain much ground. Pan had a look of intense, angry concentration on her face, Vegeta had his usual bored scowl.

Suddenly one of Pans punches made it through Vegetas defenses, smashing into his chest. She scored a series of hits, knocking Vegeta back with each one. She grinned, speeding up. Then, just as quickly as her assault had begun, it ended. Vegeta threw out a fist, landing a single massive punch, sending her flying into the ground to create a large skid mark in the dirt. When the dust settled she was lying on her back, wincing.

"Ouch."

Vegeta smirked. "That was better," he said, his rough voice making the praise sound diminished. "But just because you land a few hits, don't drop your defense. Anyway, that's all for today. It appears you have a visitor." He glanced up at me. I gulped softly and gave him a small smile. He just stared at me, then dropped to the ground. I followed, landing next to Pan. I held out my hand and she took it, smiling. I pulled her to her feet, then stood back as she brushed herself off.

"How're you doing today?" I asked.

She graced me with a small smile. "I'm better. I'm sorry, I never thanked you for last night." She leaned in and gave me a small kiss. I flushed, my face growing hot.

"It's OK, it was understandable. The night ended on kind of a bad note."

She shrugged. "Still, before that it was good. I showed mom and dad the doll this morning. Dad was embarrassed; mom got a kick out of it." I smiled.

"Where's Bra today?"

Pan rolled her eyes. "Shopping. Like, serious shopping with her mother."

"Ah. So you'd rather stay here and let Vegeta kick the crap out of you?"

"It's better than listening to Bra ask if 'this dress makes my butt look big?' for the hundredth time." Her voice raised in a vague imitation of her friend as she said that. I grinned. "Well, since they're not here, I guess I've got nothing else to do here. Wanna head home?" I shrugged, and we took off.

About halfway home I glided closer to her. "Hey, can I make a request?"

"Depends." She waited.

"Well, it's a little odd, but do you think you could give me a little training?"

She looked at me. "Training? Why do you need that?"

"It's kinda complicated." She waited, watching me expectantly. "Well, I had a dream last night. Not a pleasant one. These powers do more than just let me throw things around. Sometimes I get…premonitions. Most of the time they're just strong feelings, but this was worse. I just feel like I might need to be able to defend myself soon, and everything I can do will help." She looked at me for a bit longer before nodding.

We landed at the house and got some lunch. I wasn't hungry, but I sat with Pan as she ate. Immediately after she herded me outside to start training me.

"OK, you've already shown you've got some training." I stayed silent, knowing I only did what I could do on instinct. Hopefully that'd be enough. "So here's what we're gonna do. Just try and block or dodge what I throw at you." She dropped into a crouch, and I followed suit. Her arms came up, covering her midsection. I let my right arm drop, allowing it to block anything that came in low or mid. My left hand I brought back and up, forming a fist. She nodded and jumped at me. She wasn't moving nearly as fast as she could, but it was still too much for me.

I managed to block her first punch, but it knocked me off balance more than far enough for her second to get through before I could get myself set up again. I fell back, landing squarely on my butt. I grimaced and stood, dropping into a crouch again.

This continued for a while, me managing to block one or two before getting knocked flat. By the fifth time I was growling low in my throat as I stood, my right arm throbbing from where her punches had landed. She was watching me uneasily.

"Should we stop?" she asked slowly. I shook my head. "OK, but you look like you want to rip me in half right about now." I blinked, realizing that yes, I was pissed off. I straightened, her following, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. I closed my eyes, thinking. _Everything else so far has been natural, why not this?_

The voice in my head spoke up again. _You're thinking about it too much. Relax, don't worry about it. Feel the punches coming. You know how this stuff works._

I smirked and opened my eyes. Pan relaxed when she saw the smile, and I motioned for her to resume. We dropped into mirrored crouches, and I took a deep breath as she readied herself to charge me. I let the breath out, stretching out with my feelings. I could feel her, and I could see shadow images of her going in different directions. I struggled to narrow my focus to the images coming straight for me, and almost succeeded. Still, when she attacked, I managed to block, taking the hits on my lower arms, falling back under the punches. After half a dozen or so hits, I saw my opening coming. Two more hits and I swung, connecting with her stomach. She exhaled in a whoosh, and I took the opportunity to press my advantage. I didn't worry about hurting her, only scoring hits.

I launched a three punch flurry, going for her midsection twice, then her chest. I hit all three, and felt her intention to throw a high right at me. I dropped before she even punched, using the sweep for real this time, knocking her off her feet. I pushed myself off the ground, grabbing her as she fell and continuing through the air, landing on my back and rolling, still holding her. We ended up with her half on me.

She stared at me, a little out of breath. "Impressive. Now, you wanna let me go?" I blushed, the grin falling off my face, and let go of her arms. She laughed and jumped up, reaching down to help me up. "Seriously, that was a lot better. How'd you do it?"

I shrugged. "I could see what you were planning to do. Well, not exactly, I could see different possibilities for what you could do, and managed to narrow down my focus enough to pick it out just before you attacked. From there I was one step ahead the whole time."

She nodded slowly, looking impressed. "Nice. That sounds useful. Maybe you should be teaching me." I didn't respond; she smacked my arm. "Whatever, let's go again."

Over the next hour or so we increased the difficulty, Pan starting to come from different directions and throwing new attacks at me. I practiced narrowing my focus so I would only see the paths she was most seriously considering. I got good enough so that I could start deflecting attacks instead of outright blocking, saving my arms more punishment.

Eventually we stopped, and I realized just how sore my arms were going to be later. We went in and took turns in the shower, Pan going first. Afterward I went back outside, this time carrying my lightsaber. I practiced with that for a while, trying to make my moves as fluid as I could. I don't know how long I kept it up, only that when I finished it was noticeably darker, I was hungry, and needed another shower. When I turned toward the house it was like that day a week ago. Pan was leaning against the house, arms crossed. She was frowning at me.

"You're really serious. You're worried something's going to happen?" I nodded, breathing heavily. She motioned inside. "Come on, dinners almost ready. You've got enough time for another shower." I went with her.

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The next few weeks were taken by school, training, and trying to figure out our relationship. I was enjoying life more than I had in a while. Then one day I found myself on the verge of disaster, though I didn't know it yet.

I walked into the living room. The other three members of the house were sitting around the TV, watching a news story. Pan looked up at me, a haunted look on her face.

"It's Carla, from our class. She…" She trailed off. I sat on the arm of her chair.

She took my hand and I gave it a squeeze. I looked at the TV.

"Once again, Carla Lorens, senior at Orange Star High School, was found dead today. She was raped and murdered in her home in downtown West City. The culprit was found in the house. He has claimed to not remember anything of the attack. His lawyer has filed a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity. More on this as the story unfolds."

I felt that unease that had been quiet for weeks. I had been downtown earlier today, doing some shopping. Knowing that in some way, I might have been able to do something ate at me.

_No,_ came the unknown voice, _there was nothing you could do. You absolutely can't blame yourself for this_. I breathed, realizing the truth of that. I still didn't recognize the voice, but its advice hadn't led me wrong yet, so I was beginning to welcome when it spoke.

Pan stood and walked outside. I followed her a minute later. She was standing, staring at the sky with her arms wrapped around her. I walked up and put my hands on her shoulders. She leaned back against me. I found myself breathing in the scent of her hair, and welcomed the calming effect it had. I dropped my arms and hugged her around her waist.

"It's not right," she whispered. "She was a nice girl. Didn't ever do anything wrong." Her voice hardened and rose. "I hope they kill that guy."

I didn't say anything, just hugged her tighter. We stood that way for a long time, watching the sky and letting the cold wind sink into our bones.


	7. Chapter 7

The day the ground fell out from under me was cold.

It was a couple weeks after Carla's murder. It had been like a two week long full moon; people were committing crimes, attacking people, and just generally wreaking havoc. The icing on the cake was that all of the people that were apprehended (always sitting in the scene of the crime) claimed they couldn't remember a thing about what happened.

We went about our routines, always feeling like there was a heavy haze covering the world. Winter break started the week before, leaving me with much less to do. I spent a fair amount of time training, feeling that with every passing day something was drawing closer, something I'd need to be ready for.

In the wake of Carla's murder, Pan had withdrawn into herself some. She would still occasionally brighten up, but she was often a different person. Our relationship strained, but I stuck with it. She often didn't want to train any, forcing me to either do everything on my own or ask Goten to give me a hand.

On this day, the day that caused so many people so much pain, I was woken by a loud knocking. I opened my eyes and mumbled a loud, garbled 'who's there?' The door cracked and Pan peeked in. She looked at me.

"Get up. We've got to go down to the village and pick mom up some vegetables." I yawned and sat up. She closed the door, leaving me to get dressed. I grabbed my lightsaber, hooking it to my belt as I had taken to doing when I went out to anywhere but school.

After I had a bit to eat the two of us set off, flying to the nearby village. It was a small collection of houses and public buildings. There was a small concentration of government type buildings in the middle of the town; a town hall, a small bank, a grocer. On the outer edge of the village was an outdoor market.

We landed and walked down the main aisle of the market. Pan knew what we were getting; I was just there for grunt labor. I wandered away from her for a while, looking at peoples' goods, but mostly just walking to walk. I was away from her for about 5 minutes when I heard the scream.

It started piercingly loud, rising in pitch before cutting off suddenly. I whirled around, scanning the crowd. People were staring in the direction the scream came from. The crowd broke, some people moving toward the scream, others moving away. I went toward. I pushed through the crowd, remembering the night at the fair. I tried to find Pan, unsuccessfully.

I broke through the crowd, emerging in an alley between two buildings. The first thing I saw was Pan, staring down at a heap on the ground. I looked at the heap, realizing it was a little boy. Or rather, was, only minutes ago. He was lying, obviously dead, his head tilted at an unnatural angle. It took me a second to find the cause of his death.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt flesh. There was a thin, cauterized wound running from his left shoulder all the way down to his waist. I shuddered at the sight. Pan looked up at me and I recoiled from the hate blazing in her eyes. She suddenly took off, soaring in a sharp arc over the edge of the roof above me, flying toward home. I followed, trying to catch up with her, leaving the startled villagers far below. Despite the many months of practice, she was still a much better flyer than I was. She left me far behind.

When I landed in front of the house she was already inside. I went in and upstairs, taking them two at a time. I stopped at her room and knocked. "Pan?"

"Go away!" she yelled.

"Pan? What is it? What's gotten into you?" That was apparently the wrong thing to say. The door flew open, seeming to create a vacuum that sucked me forward. Pan was standing there, eyes blazing.

"What's gotten into me? I'll tell you what; you're a lying sack of shit." I stood, gaping, not knowing what she was talking about. Her upper lip twitched. "You saw him. You saw what happened to him. It was that." She pointed at the hilt dangling from my waist.

"Wait…you think I did that?" I couldn't believe it, but the look in her eyes told me all I needed to know.

"Who else would have? Who else has one of those? I can't believe you. You show up, come strolling into my life, befriend me, make me love you, and then you start killing people? You've been doing this for months! For all I know you raped Carla, while you were living under my roof. Every time anything happened, you were somewhere else. You've been lying to me, weaseling your way closer for months. I feel sick."

I tried to reach out to her, not sure what I could possibly say; only knowing that I felt like I was dying, like I couldn't breathe. She pulled back violently, as if I was white hot. "Don't touch me!" she shrieked. "Get out of my house! Do it right now or I'll kill you where you stand!"

My arm dropped. I stared at her hate filled face, my throat working. I turned and trudged down the stairs, head down, shoulders slumped. I passed Gohan and Videl without looking at them. I left the house, Pans loud sobs following me into the suddenly darker day.

I don't know how long I walked. Maybe for hours. I couldn't think, I just walked, staring at the ground. My feet barely lifted off the ground, shuffling along, coating my shoes in dirt. I had forgotten my jacket, and was cold. I barely noticed. I could barely feel anything.

My life had fallen apart for the second time in less than 6 months. I hated whoever it was who brought me here. I had been happy, but it couldn't last. I knew I hadn't done any of the things she claimed I'd done. _Or did you? No one remembered doing the things they did. What makes you so different?_

That voice struck me, making me physically reel. _Was it possible? Could I have done all those things and not remembered?_

_Anything's possible. Look up._

I did without thinking. Standing in the road ahead of me was a man. He was about the same height as me, with long, ragged dark hair. He was wearing a black cloak pulled tight around his body. My eyes locked with his, and I saw insanity there.

I tried to look away and realized I couldn't. I tried to turn my head with no luck. It slowly dawned on me that I couldn't move. I could see and hear fine, but I couldn't move. The man walked closer to me, stopping an arms length away. He stared at me, grinning, his eyes swimming with glee.

"Hello little Jedi," he said softly. I recognized his voice, the voice in my head. He grinned wider. "Very good. You finally catch on. Now, you'll notice you can't move. It's a little trick we Sith have. Mind control, brainwashing, and the occasional memory alteration."

I stared at him, the truth dawning. He must have seen it in my eyes; his grin finally split, showing two rows of perfectly straight teeth. "That's right, I've been here all along. I spotted you the first day you stepped out of that hotel. I should have killed you then, but I would have given myself away to the public too early. I needed you to get close to those who fancy themselves protectors of this world. I will need them out of the way if my plans are to succeed.

"I've been following you ever since I saw you, giving you helpful little hints whenever I felt it necessary." He laughed, a horrible cackle that caused a bird to erupt from the undergrowth in panicked flight. "And you were so willing, eager even, to take my advice; letting me get closer, opening your mind to me. All of it making it so much easier for me to gain my control here."

He reached up and caressed my cheek, causing me to shudder inside, though my actual body didn't move. He chuckled. "The show today was the final glorious piece of my creation. Your woman reacted perfectly. I wasn't sure if the…manipulation I had been doing on her thoughts was taking, but she proved my worries groundless."

He leaned in close, whispering now. "I think I'll have a little fun with her before I'm done." I screamed in my head, feeling whatever little control over myself break. He grinned, then cocked his head to the side, smile fading into a thoughtful look. "Or maybe not. Interesting. Show time begins a little early." He slipped sideways, melting into the shadows under the trees. "I'll be watching." He disappeared fully, his low chuckle following him.

I still couldn't move. I tried to calm down, with little effect. A few moments later I heard the sound of someone flying. I felt myself turning around. As my body finished its turn, I saw Pan descending from the sky. I felt my face change, taking up a worried expression. She landed a good distance away and stood watching me. I wrestled with my body, trying to exert some control, to no avail.

"Gabe," she began softly, "I…I want to apologize. I know nothing I say will help, but I have to try. Dad talked to me. I know you didn't do any of those things. I don't know what got into me." I could see she was crying, a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. She moved closer to me. "I was so mad, and all that's been happening lately has put me over the edge. I'm so sorry I took it out on you. I don't deserve to be forgiven, but I'm asking it all the same."

I felt my face change again, adopting a friendly smile. "It's OK," I heard my voice say, felt my lips say. "No harm done."

Pan stared at me, confused. "No harm done? I threatened to kill you. I said you raped and killed a girl, a friend."

"I know," my mouth moving again, "but you didn't mean any of it. Like you said, you were stretched beyond breaking. Let's go back home and we can talk this over." She smiled a little, still looking confused, but happy. She was now only a few feet away, just past arm length. She turned, and I felt my left hand dropping to my waist, to the cylinder hooked there. I felt the friendly smile fall off my face, replaced by blankness.

Horror filled me as the scenario began to play itself out. It was my dream all over again, with a different woman playing the lead role. My hand rose of its own accord, seeming to move in slow motion. Pan was facing completely away, not at all aware that her death was only seconds away. My hand came all the way up, leveling the saber at the middle of her back. I screamed in my head, trying to get a word, a sound, anything out to warn her.

_PAN!_

My thumb stroked the ignition switch.


	8. Chapter 8

_PAN!_

My thumb stroked the ignition switch.

At the same moment, Pan turned slightly, beginning to look over her shoulder. I could see a puzzled look on her face. The turn was just enough so that when the blade sprung forward, it pierced through her left shoulder, instead of directly through her heart.

She gasped and jerked forward, pushing herself off the ground and leaping 20 feet forward, far out of my reach. She stared at me, then past. I heard a voice come from somewhere behind me.

"How unfortunate. Now you'll have to die a slower, more painful death, after the two of us have a little fun." Pan backed away, holding her shoulder. The man who called himself Sith strolled slowly up on my right. As he came up beside me, I saw the look of joy and lust on his face, and I felt myself explode. My vision clouded for a split second.

When I could see again, my hand was gripping the mans arm just above the elbow. He looked down at my hand, then at my face. I snarled at him, then fisted my left hand around the hilt of my lightsaber. I pulled him closer, using the leverage to help swing my arm around as fast and hard as I could, pivoting on the ball of my foot as I spun. My fist connected with the center of his chest. He flew backward, aided by an uncontrolled burst of Force energy I'd added to my strike, skidding to a halt a few dozen feet away, falling onto one knee and bracing himself on the ground with a hand.

"Gabe?" Pans soft, weak voice came from behind me. My head snapped around to look at her. She was pale, but still standing, which was better than most people would be doing in that situation.

"Can you fly?" She nodded weakly. "Good. Go home. Get your father, get Goten, get Vegeta if you can't get them. And get healed. Don't come back, send them." She stood there, staring at me. "Go!" I shouted. She flinched back, but took off. She started off wobbly, but steadied herself quickly and flew straight for home. I watched her for a few seconds, then turned.

The man was standing, watching Pan fly. I waved toward him, shifting him back slightly. He moved his gaze from her to me. His eyes narrowed, and he took a menacing step toward me.

"You've made a deadly mistake, little Jedi." Another step. "You've angered Darth Revenant, Dark Lord of the Sith. Now you will know true pain."

I smiled darkly. "You're no Sith Lord. You're just a psycho with more power than he deserves." I lifted the blade that still hung in my hand. "And now it's my job to make you pay for all the pain you've caused."

He snarled and reached up to grip the neck of his cloak. He flung it off to catch in the trees, revealing a black body suit underneath. He summoned a lightsaber to his hand, igniting it, turning the trees on either side red. I shifted my left leg back and held the hilt of my sword at my waist, angled up and away. I glanced around, taking in the surroundings; trees on either side, about 20 to 30 feet separating them, dirt ground, not much else. The wind blew through the trees, birds chirped in the distance. I blinked and he struck.

Revenant shot his hand out, blue lightning arcing from his fingers toward me. I swept my saber in front of me, catching all of the lightning on the blade. Coming up quickly behind his initial assault, Revenant swung his blade in a broad arc, coming down on my head. I ducked to the side, sidestepping his charge, tripping him as he passed. He turned his fall into a roll, coming up and spinning around lightning fast. He charged again, darting in behind a flurry of strikes.

I narrowed my focus, seeing the shadow images of my opponent, blade swinging in 8 different directions. One image darkened, and I put my blade in front of that swing. I felt his blow connect, pushing me back with the force of it. I grunted and swung my blade down to block a low swipe aimed at my legs. I continued to block his strikes until I saw an opening.

I swung my lightsaber hard to the left, intercepting his blade and knocking it off course so it missed me by a hair. I lashed out with my leg, kicking him in the stomach, knocking him back. I pressed my advantage, closing with him and swinging viciously. He brought his ruby blade up to block every time, taking my attacks and batting them back. He slowly straightened despite my attack.

_He's stronger than I am. Maybe not by a hell of a lot, but it's enough. I'm not sure I can win a straight up fight._ I fell back, falling backward under a horizontal swing and coming up out of range. I jumped back, taking three giant leaps to get far away. I settled into a crouch, breathing heavily. He eyed me from a distance. He suddenly straightened and reached out a hand. I heard creaking from all around me, then snapping. I looked up and saw tree branches breaking off in droves and then hovering where they had broken. I gulped. Revenant grinned. His hand dropped.

The branches came down on me like a brown and green rain. They were alternately pointing straight down to spear me into the ground and lying flat to bludgeon me to death. I extinguished my saber and crossed my arms. I concentrated and flung my arms out to both sides, yelling, sending out a wave of Force energy in all directions. The ground buckled underneath me slightly, the loose dirt on the top of the road sinking into the gravel beneath. The branches flew up and out, many of them splintering. I looked down in time to see Revenant covering the last 5 feet in front of me, grinning maniacally and swinging his lightsaber.

I didn't think. I dropped, sweeping at his feet. I caught one ankle, sending him sprawling over my back. I felt his blade bite into my thigh, causing me to cry out. I rolled forward and rose, igniting my weapon. He recovered just as quick. We eyed each other for half a second before charging. He swung his blade down in an attack meant to split me from head to groin. I raised my blade to block him and my free hand to grab his wrist to lend strength to my block. When our blades connected, I found his hand gripping my wrist as well. We strained against each other, staring through our interlocked arms at each other, lips pulled back over our teeth in silent snarls.

I could feel him overpowering me. I stared at him, then smiled. His expression faltered just before I threw my head forward, between out arms. My forehead smashed into his nose. I heard and felt the crunch, heard him cry out, and smelled blood. I stumbled back, my head ringing a bit. He stumbled farther. I stood straight, smiling. He looked at me, holding his face. He dropped his hand; his nose had turned into a flat, twisted mess and his mouth was open in a silent roar.

The smile fell off my face as I felt the dark power gathering around him. He screamed and the light seemed to be sucked from the world. Power exploded off of him, bending the trees away from him. His head was thrown back; he was screaming at the sky. I raised my blade in defense, though I had little hope for its effectiveness. His head snapped down and I saw my death in his fiery gaze.

He shot both his arms forward, fingers hooked toward me, saber hovering between his arms, unlit. Black lightning shot from all 10 fingers, crossing the distance between us in an instant. I managed to deflect one hands assault, sending it into a tree which immediately caught a fire so hot it burned it to ash in minutes.

The other attack speared through my left shoulder. I screamed. The pain spread through my body, causing my legs to collapse under me. My left hand opened, sending my saber inert to the ground. I screamed so long I imagined my throat had ripped open. Seconds, minutes, years later, the attack ended.

I sat on the ground, one leg tucked under me, the other bent so my knee was in front of my face. My shoulder was a constant sea of pain. I didn't dare look at it, but imagined it to be a ragged, smoking hole the size of a soda can. My left arm was useless. I was done.

Revenant stood, panting, seeming to be nearly spent. He looked gaunt, like he'd shot his own life out with the lightning. For all I knew, he had. He looked at me and smiled.

"You keep impressing me, little Jedi. I never would have thought someone could stand for as long as you did against a Sith Lord. However, now you have to say goodbye." He walked closer, calling his saber back to his hand. I saw the muscles in his arms twitch with fatigue. "It's a pity. I would have liked to keep you alive long enough for you to see me use your woman."

I saw Pan in my minds eye, and the rage that had been building in me broke through, flooding my thoughts to the point where I could think of nothing else. My right arm shot up and blue bolts flew out; 5 small ones, one from each finger, and one large, straight from my palm. I caught him completely off guard. I saw the look of utter amazement on his face before the lightning obliterated it. I held my hand up, continuing to pour energy into his twitching body until there was nothing left of his head. When the bolts finally stopped flowing, his decapitated body crumpled to the ground.

I collapsed onto my side, yelling out as my shoulder was crushed between me and the ground. I rolled painfully onto my back and stared at the sky. I reached out with the last bit of my strength, feeling for her. _Pan…_

Just before I faded out I thought I heard her voice, calling my name.

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I was warm. I felt something soft under me, supporting my weight. I didn't open my eyes, wanting to take stock of my situation before I added any more stimuli.

My shoulder hurt, but not nearly as bad as it had before I passed out. My leg where Revenant's saber had hit me stung. Most of the muscles in my body were sore, some of them twitching every now and then. Once I had determined I was basically whole, I opened my eyes.

I found myself staring at the ceiling in my room. I tried to shift, felt a dull pain shoot through me, and settled back. The lamp was on, but the room was mostly dark, no light coming in through the window. I turned my head and saw the clock; 11:34. I turned farther and saw Pan.

She was sitting in a chair beside my bed, folded over so that she was lying with her head on the mattress. She had her right arm folded under her head; her left was lying on top of my hand. She had a haggard look on her face, but was breathing evenly, obviously asleep. I heard the door creak open and, after another moment of looking at her face, looked up.

Videl was standing in the door, the light from the stairway spilling in past her, silhouetting her from behind. She looked at me and smiled.

"You're awake." I nodded. "We were starting to wonder if you'd come out of it." She stepped in, shutting the door quietly and moving to stand over her daughter. She gazed down at her sleeping form and smiled. Speaking quietly, she said "she's been in here almost constantly since we brought you back. I actually found her curled up next to you the first night, asleep."

I looked down at Pan, amazed. Videl stroked her daughters' hair, causing her to stir gently. She slowly raised her head, blinking, looking around. She smiled up at her mother, then her eyes turned to me. After a blank second her eyes widened, filling with surprise, and she sat up straight.

"Gabe! You're awake!" I smiled and nodded. Videl moved quietly from the room, easing the door shut. Pan moved closer to my head, her hand gripping tighter on mine. She reached up and brushed the hair off my forehead.

"I wasn't sure you'd come back," she said softly. "After everything I said…" I held up my hand. She gave me a quizzical look.

I tried to speak, couldn't, and cleared my throat. "I want to talk, I really do, but I really need a trip to the bathroom." She laughed and moved to sit on the bed and help pull me up. I groaned as my left arm shifted. She slid under my right arm and put her left hand around my waist. She pulled me up off the bed. I realized I was only wearing boxers, but dignity was low on my priority list at the moment.

I spoke as we walked. "How are you so much better? You shouldn't be any better off than I am." She grinned.

"Dad had a senzu bean stored away. He made me take it before I could go back to you." I nodded, feeling relief that her father was looking out for her.

We slowly made it to the bathroom. I went in alone, used the bathroom, and then brushed my teeth. My mouth felt dry and tasted like a garbage dump. I drank deeply from the faucet, letting water run down my chin as I straightened. After drying my face I opened the door. Pan was there to help me back to bed. She sat on the mattress next to me after I lay down.

She picked up as if we hadn't moved. "I don't know what I would have done if you had died." I looked at her.

"How can you want me to be here?" Her face took on a puzzled look. "I tried to kill you. If you hadn't turned when you did, I would've stabbed you in the heart." I realized I was crying. She smiled softly and wiped the tears off my face.

"But you saved me." I had nothing to say to that, just stared at her, not comprehending. "Don't you see? I heard your voice. You called my name, warning me. Because of you I'm alive." I thought about it. I had called her name, but I didn't think anything had actually gotten out. The smile fell off her face.

"What did you do to him?" Her voice was soft, a little fearful. I looked away.

"Nothing I'm proud of. I let my anger get the best of me. I should never have done what I did."

"Why is it so bad that you got angry?"

I shook my head slowly. "What I can do…there's an evil side to it. He used that evil. His power came from anger, from hate. If I give into that, I'm no better than he was."

She smiled. "On the contrary, none of us would be here if my father and grandfather never let their anger take control." I lay there, thinking.

_Huh…she's right. And I don't think anything bad came from this anger. Maybe it's just best to let it lie, not think about it._

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, sinking it deeper into my pillow. After a few moments I felt a brush of air on my cheek. I opened my eyes. Pans face filled my vision. She stared into my eyes for a long moment before dropping and kissing me. I closed my eyes and lifted my good arm, wrapping it tight around her. We lay that way for a long time, breaking finally only when we needed to breathe.

She was laying half on top of me, arms on either side. I had my arm still tight around her midsection. She stared into my eyes, searching my soul.

"I love you, Gabe," she whispered. My breath caught in my throat, and I struggled to speak. Finally I managed to push the words out, barely audible.

"I love you too." She smiled and bent for another kiss. The embrace deepened, and we knew no more until morning.


End file.
